Fireflies in the Storm
by Trillian Astra
Summary: FireflyxDoctor Who crossover. River meets the Doctor and Martha on Persephone. Craziness ensues. Disclaimer: I lack ownership of Doctor Who and Firefly.Please read and review, as it will make me very happy if you do. NEW CHAPTERS!
1. Prologue

**Fandom: Firefly/Doctor Who crossover.**

**Spoilers: Up to and including Objects in Space for Firefly. In Doctor Who terms this is Tenth Doctor and Martha.**

**Summary: River meets the Doctor and Martha while the ship is dirtside on Persephone to refuel and arrange a new job. Craziness and drama ensue.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly, Doctor Who, or any of their respective characters. **

**Finally, please drop me a review, as it will make me very happy if you do.**

**Fireflies in the Storm**

**Prologue**

"Captain, there's a wave coming in." Wash's voice sounded over the intercom." Mal reached for the comm unit in his cabin, pressing the 'talk' button.

"Who from, Wash?"

"It's coming from Persephone. Looks like Badger wants something."

"Accept the wave, I'm on my way." He made his way to the bridge. "So, Badger, what can I do for you?"

"Captain Reynolds. I trust everything's going well on that ship of yours?"

"Well enough, but I do have things to be doing and you're using up my valuable time here."

"All right, I was just making conversation."

"Get to the point."

"I've got a job you might be interested in. I know someone who needs some goods transported, and who wants it done quiet-like, asked if I knew a reliable ship that could take the job. You were the first person I thought of. Interested?"

"Might be. I'd like to know some more details, though. Such as how much I'd be paid."

"You'll be fully compensated for your time. The client's based here on 'Sephone, if you want ta meet them."

"Seems like that would be satisfactory. I think we can do business."

"How soon can you be here? I'll sort out a meeting."

Mal looked over at Wash. "How soon can we get to Persephone?"

"A couple of days, if we go full burn. We'll need to refuel when we get there."

"Okay, Badger, we ought to be dirtside in three days. Set up a meeting with this client, and we'll see about taking the job."

"I certainly will, Captain. I'll be expecting you in three days."

As the wave ended, Mal headed back to his cabin.

"Captain?"

"What, Wash?"

"Are you sure we should be dealing with Badger? Things don't exactly go smooth when we do."

"Things never go as smooth as I'd like. We didn't agree to anything, and we need to refuel on 'Sephone anyway, so it can't do any harm to find out what this job is."

--------------------

"So, where do you want to go next?"

Martha shrugged. "I… don't know. Where's good?"

"Oh, I've got an idea. How would you like to see some of the first planets to be colonised after you lot leave Earth?"

"Yeah… that sounds good."

"Okay then." The Doctor bounded over to the Tardis' control panel. "Um… what year… if we say the middle of the third millennium…. And, ooh, that's a good planet." He pressed a few buttons to set the coordinates, and a few minutes later he was heading for the door.

"So… where are we?"

He opened the door with a flourish. "This, Martha, is the year 2520, on the planet Persephone. This here is one of the first planets that got settled in this galaxy."

"Wow…" She stepped out, looking around and finding herself in the middle of a bustling dock, with people selling things or carrying bags, and ships docking in the marked-out berths at the edges. "So, this is where we end up…"

"Oh, there are fancier places than this. Huge, beautiful cities. But this is so much better than that, there's so much… humanity here. Come on, let's explore."

--------------------

"It's coming."

River lay on the old, squishy sofa in the living area, watching Kaylee and Shepherd Book prepare dinner for the crew. Kaylee looked up. "What is, River?"

"The storm."

"River, we're still in space. There's no storms out here, don't be silly."

"But it is. I feel the storm coming. The oncoming storm. Should be careful, there are some would be afraid of the storm, but we don't need to fear."

"Uh… that's good, River." Kaylee and Book looked at each other. Book whispered "I think she should rest… it seems to help when she's like this."

"Yeah. I'll get her back to her room." She looked up. "River? Maybe you should have a little nap now. You look tired."

"Okay. I'll rest." When Kaylee moved to take her back to her room in the passenger dorm, she shook her head. "Kaylee. I can walk, you know. You stay, finish cooking." She walked away, leaving a confused Kaylee in the kitchen.

When she was back in her room, River lay on her bed and smiled. She knew why they didn't have to fear the storm. She knew who the storm was, and she knew he wouldn't be a threat to them.

She'd be seeing him soon, just as soon as they got to Persephone. She was looking forward to it.


	2. Chapter One

**A/N**** Sorry about the wait everyone! This chapter's a bit longer than the last one, and more happens. **

**Please read and review.**

**Chapter One**

River dreamed.

She lay on top of the thin blanket of her bed, tossing and turning in her sleep. She dreamt of fire, and ice, and rage, and a man who embodied them all.

She suddenly sat bolt upright, eyes wide and looking even paler than usual. She whispered to herself "He's close".

She left her room in Serenity's passenger dorm, walking barefoot through the ship, looking for the captain. She found him sitting alone on the bridge, watching over the ship. She stood still in the doorway, and without turning around he spoke to her.

"What d'you want, _mei mei_?"

"I need to tell you something."

"You see something?"

"Yes. There's a storm coming, a fierce storm, and we're going to be caught up in it. It's going to catch up to us soon, when we get to Persephone."

"This bad news, River?"

"No."

"So why tell me now?"

"Because the storm is a man. Need to know that, so y'can watch out for him. Mustn't miss him, it's very important that we meet him."

"_Shi_…"

"He's fire, and ice, and rage, and the storm in the heart of the sun. He's ancient, and forever. He burns at the centre of time and he can see the turn of the universe. He's wonderful."

"Uh… that's very poetical, but it doesn't tell me what he looks like."

River sighed. "He looks young. Younger'n you, captain, but his eyes are old. And he never quite fits in anywhere, but he walks like he owns the place."

"Thanks. I'll keep an eye out for him."

"Oh, don't worry, you'll find him or he'll find you, either way you will meet, and soon." River started to leave, but turned back briefly. "Oh, and he wears a brown coat." She said with a smile.

--------------------

Martha and the Doctor were walking through the market at Eavesdown dock. The Doctor was smiling for the first time in a long time, the mass of humanity around them apparently cheered him up. Martha meanwhile had so much to take in – the ships of varying sizes docked, the market stalls arranged haphazardly and selling everything imaginable.

"This place is amazing…" A large sign, with some kind of chinese lettering, caught her eye. "Doctor, what does that mean?"

"Uh, it's Mandarin, it means "Blue Sun". Must be a company of some kind."

"There's an awful lot of signs with chinese writing around here." They passed a terminal outside a docking space, and she saw the buttons on the terminal all had chinese symbols on them. "Does everyone speak chinese now?"  
"Well, not really. See, all the countries on Earth sort of unified when your lot started settling other planets. The two most powerful countries at the time were America and China, so the culture now is a sort of mixture of the two."

"Doctor… does that include eating dogs?"

"What?"

Martha pointed at a sign over a stall that appeared to be selling cooked dog meat.

"Oh, well, it's customary in some Asian countries…"

"Uh, right."

--------------------

Once Serenity had landed, everyone on board was preparing to go planetside. Wash took the mule to pick up some parts, and Mal left Zoe to keep an eye on the ship while he and Jayne went to meet with Badger and find out what this job was. As they were about to leave, River ran up to the captain.

"Captain?"

"Yes, River?"

"Could I go with you? I'd like to help out. Don't want to feel useless."

"Your brother okay with this?"

"Yes."

"Fine, you can come along. Suppose it can't do any harm."

River smiled, and pulled on a long coat over her dress and followed the men out.

When they arrived at the rather run-down building that Badger used as a base, and were shown in.

"Captain Reynolds. Just in time."

"What's this job, Badger?"

"A client – someone with standing in the community – contacted me, said they was looking to sell some rather valuable property off-world. They've got a buyer, all they wanted me to do is find someone to transport it."

"How much do I get paid?"  
"The client is offering 40 of the sale price, of which I get ten. You'd get a thousand square for your time and effort."

"What's the property?"

"I don't know. The client refuses to tell me, he's a very private man."

"Where am I taking it?"

"The buyer has an estate on Osiris, you're to take it there."

"And this property is here, on Persephone?"

"That's right."

Mal looked at River.

"River?" She knew what he was asking, frowned briefly and then nodded.

"He's telling the truth."

"You sure there's nothing dodgy about this?"

Badger interrupted. "Captain, please. Would I do that?"

"Jobs I take from you don't exactly go smooth, Badger. I just need to be sure this ain't a set-up."

"It isn't. You should take it, Captain."

"That right, River?"

"Yes. It'll be important."

"Well, I guess we'll take the job. Where can I find this client of yours?"

"I'll contact the client, and have the property delivered to your ship by the end of the day. He doesn't want contact with anyone but me on this matter. The buyer is one Harlem Saxon, I'll get you the details for his estate."

"And payment?"

"Half now, half on delivery. Mr Saxon knows about the arrangement, he'll keep to it."

"Okay. We'll do it."

"Good." Reaching into a drawer, Badger pulled out a piece of paper and a smallish, but heavy, bag. He passed both to Mal. "There you go. The address of Mr Saxon's estate, the authorisation code you need to get through the gates, and 500 square as a down payment."

"Good. I think we'll be going now."

Mal, River and Jayne left, feeling rather more relaxed now that they knew they had a job. They had to walk down a street with a few pubs and bars to get back to the ship, and they had plenty of cash and weren't in a hurry, so they decided to stop for a drink.

--------------------

The Doctor and Martha had wandered into a bar, which seemed to be a friendly place with an interesting variety of people standing or sitting around, enjoying a drink on the hot afternoon and chatting.

"So… do you want a drink?"

"What do they serve?" Martha eyed the bar cautiously.

"Oh, they should have familiar drinks, don't worry… ooh, they have sake! Ever tried that?"

"Uh, no. It's Japanese, isn't it?"  
"That's right. Let's get some." The Doctor rifled through the many pockets of his coat, eventually pulling out a small bag of coins. "Aha! I knew I had some of the right currency somewhere."

He walked up to the bar, and started to order when the bartender interrupted.

"We don't serve no _hwoon dahn_ browncoats here."

"Excuse me?"

"We… don't… serve… your… sort… here. _Dong ma_?"

"Why, because I'm wearing a brown coat?"

"Yeah. This here's not some _go tsao de_ independents' bar."

"What are you… wait, _what_ did you call me?"

At this point, the other patrons of the bar realised what was going on, and gathered closer. Martha realised what was about to happen. "Uh, Doctor… I think we should just go, these people don't look too happy."

"I'm trying to understand what the problem is, that's all…" The Doctor trailed off mid-sentence as the bartender pulled out a length of metal pipe from underneath the bar.

"Out. Now."

"I'm sorry, why exactly are you throwing us out?"

At this point, one of the more drunk (and excitable) patrons of this particular bar got impatient, and attempted to swing a punch at the Doctor. Actually, the punch hit another patron, who was standing next to Martha and minding his own business. As a result, the bar erupted into a full-blown brawl.

Martha rolled her eyes, thinking that people in the future weren't so different from people at home after all, and wondering what was so bad about brown coats, and struggled her way towards the door. She made it outside, and leant against a wall to get her breath back, when suddenly the window of the bar (which she had assumed was glass) disappeared as the Doctor came flying, headfirst, out of it. She ran over to him, and when she looked back the window had reappeared.

"Weird." She helped the Doctor into a sitting position. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah… terrible headache, but I'll be fine."

She was about to help him stand up and get him back to the TARDIS when she looked up and saw three people in front of her. One, a large, burly man with a scowl on his face and carrying a large gun, was standing just behind the other two, and clearly didn't want to be there. The second man wore an old, dark-brown coat, and was looking at them as if he didn't know quite what to make of them.

The third person, standing close to the man in the brown coat, was a girl with long dark hair, wearing a dress, combat boots and a long embroidered coat. She was staring at the Doctor and pointing at him. Martha was about to ask what the three were looking at, when the girl looked up at the man next to her and said simply. "It's him."

**A/N:**** There's just a couple of things I need to tell you about this chapter. First, I casually slipped Mr Saxon into the story (if you've been watching Doctor Who series three, you ought to recognise that name). Second, the description of the Doctor that River gives, that starts "He's fire, and ice, and rage..." comes from the episode "Family of Blood". It was just too perfect to pass up on, so I borrowed it.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. **


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

River stopped dead in the middle of the street, pointing straight at a skinny man with messy brown hair and wearing a long, brown coat, who was sprawled on the ground in front of them. A dark-haired girl knelt next to him, and helped him sit up.

River looked up at Mal. "It's him."

Mal looked at the man with surprise, then back to River. "You're sure?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"So, uh, now we've found him, what am I supposed to do with him?"

River frowned for a moment. "We should take him back to the ship."

"What about the girl? You see her in this vision o'yours?"

"No. I don't know who she is."

By now, the Doctor had got to his feet, and he wanted answers. "Um, excuse me, you are talking about me, aren't you? Who are you?"

"Uh, sorry. I'm Malcolm Reynolds, this is River and the man with the big gun behind me is Jayne."

"Well, nice to meet you, I suppose. I'm the Doctor, and this is Martha. We're… travellers, of a sort." He turned to River. "Um, sorry, but it looked like you recognised me, but I don't know you. How did you do that?"  
"Saw you. In the dreams. Dreams've been coming to me for weeks now, telling me you were coming. Dreamt of storms. Dreamt of you. The Doctor."

"You _dreamt_ that I was coming?"

"Yes. Something's going to happen, something bad. Someone…. Someone you've met before, someone you know is planning something. We have to stop it. You, and us. Together."

"Sorry, is she always like this?"

Mal groaned. "She's a reader. Sees things, you know? Things she wouldn't know otherwise. If she's seen something, it'll probably happen."

"Right. She's psychic. And she obviously saw something that's going to happen, so what do we do now?"

"We'd best get you and the lady back to my ship. Then we can sort something out."

"Okay."

"Do you have anything with you? Luggage an' such?"

"Uh, yes. It's quite a large, square box. It's really very valuable."

"Well then. We have a skiff back at the ship, we ought to be able to transport it on that if it ain't too big. Now, it looks like those folks in the bar are gettin' a little excitable, so I think we should be getting out o' here. Doctor, the ship's this way."

Mal and Jayne started walking. Martha whispered to the Doctor. "Do you think we can trust them?"

"I don't know. Come on, let's go."

"But… is it safe?"

"If they were going to hurt us, they'd've done it by now. Come _on_."

As he hurried off after the others, Martha groaned, wondering how someone who was nine hundred years old could still act so much like a child.

River had waited for the Doctor to catch up. She was confused, the dreams had shown her a figure of great power and strength, but the man she had just met seemed to be more like a hyperactive child.

When the Doctor did join them, she tried to read him… but found she couldn't. Instead, he stared at her. "Sorry, it's River, isn't it? What were you doing just then?"

"Trying to read. But the book was closed tight shut. Lots of pages, and adventures on them, but can't read them."

"You were trying to read my mind? Why?"

"Don't understand you. Can't quantify."

"How can you even do that? You're just a human, you shouldn't be able to do that."

River turned even paler than she usually was, and whispered. "Needles. Poking and prying, doing things. Hurting."

"What? Who hurt you?"  
"Bad men."

"But who were they?"  
"Bad… two by two, hands of blue, two by two, hands of blue…"

The Doctor couldn't get any more out of her after that, but they soon arrived at where Serenity was docked, so he was busy enough. The ship did indeed have a skiff, and he soon left again, in the company of a cheerful man who was apparently the ship's pilot, to retrieve the TARDIS. Martha was left on the ship, surrounded by these new, strange people. Mal – who was the captain, she found out – left her with a girl called Kaylee, who gave her a tour of the ship, ending in the passenger quarters.

"Well, these rooms are Simon's and River's, but there's two empty rooms now that the Shepherd's left. So you can have one and your friend can have the other."

"Uh, thanks."

"Your friend… who is he? I didn't get much of a look before he and Wash went looking for that box thing. Are you two, y'know, together?"

"What? No! I mean, no, we're just friends. And he's just the Doctor. He's pretty hard to describe, to be honest."

"But what's his name?"

"I don't know if he even has one. He's always just 'the Doctor'."

"Oh. Well, we meet all sorts out here. If he's your friend I'm sure he's a nice guy."

"Yeah, I guess he is. Can I have this room?"

"_Shi_. Go ahead. So, what's your story, Martha?" Kaylee sat down on the bed in the empty room Martha had picked out, and Martha shrugged and sat down next to her.

"Well, I used to live with my mum, before I met the Doctor and we went travelling… and back home I was studying to be a doctor. I guess I'll probably end up finishing one day. When I go home."

"Really? That's three doctors on board now… you, and your friend, and Simon, he's our doctor… uh, you met River, didn't you? She was with the captain, before you got here."

"Yeah…"

"Simon's her brother. He rescued her from the Alliance, who were doing experiments on her, and then they bought passage on Serenity, and they kinda stayed on."

"Oh. That's nice. But.. uh… my friend… he's not exactly a medical doctor. He's more of a scientist."

"Well, we don't have any of them. Maybe he'd be able to help Simon look after River. She's kind of sick… 'cos of what the Alliance did to her. She's been getting better though."

Just then, a voice called out that food was ready, so Martha and Kaylee headed back to the dining room, where Martha was introduced to the world of freeze-dried protein cubes and she spent some time talking more to Kaylee, and two other women called Zoe and Inara.


	4. Chapter Three

**A/N: Okay, this chapter's a bit different, because it's not focused on either the Doctor or _Serenity_. Instead, a new character shows up. If you watch Doctor Who, you will know this new character. But he won't be named just yet, I'm trying to maintain an aura of mystery here.**

**Free e-Oreos if anyone guesses who the new arrival is.**

**And please, don't forget to review.   
**

**Chapter Three**

While Martha was talking to her strange new friends, and the Doctor was off getting the Tardis back, the crew of another ship were about to find their lives changed forever. It was early in the morning, and most of the crew of the Dragonfly-class ship _Amerauder_ were sound asleep. Just the second-in-command, Kat, was awake, sitting up on the bridge, and even she was starting to nod off.

Kat was jolted awake by a beeping from the console. She sat up in her chair, looking at the monitors to see what was wrong. "Huh?" She checked every readout she could, but couldn't work out what had triggered the beeping. She decided that the best thing to do was to ask the Captain, who usually knew what to do in these sorts of situations. Heading down the corridor to the crew quarters, she reached the Captain's room and pressed the intercom button.

"Captain? You awake?"

A few seconds later, someone replied. "What is it, Kat?"

"Got a problem on the bridge. Thought you might know what to do."

"Okay, I'm coming."

A few minutes later, Kat was back on the bridge with her Captain, telling him about the odd beeping. "Where was it coming from? The noise?"

"Uh… that way." She pointed to a section of the console, and was surprised to see a very odd look on the Captain's face. "Sir? Are you okay?"

"What? Oh, yes, I'm fine. Really." He then opened up the underneath of that section of console, fiddled with a few wires, then closed the section and pressed a button on the navigation screen. "Kat?"

"Yes, sir?"

"That beeping went off because the ship detected something that I told it to look for. I've set it up so that the computer will trace the signal and show us where to go."

"Sir?"

"Don't worry about it, Kat. Everything will be fine, I promise."

"Uh… okay, sir."

"You can go and get some sleep now. I'll stay here."

"Are you sure, sir?"

"Yes, it's fine. Couldn't sleep anyway."

"Well, thank you sir. Very kind of you."

"Good night, Kat."  
"Good night, Captain."

As Kat headed for her own bunk, her Captain settled into the pilot's chair, positioning it so that he had a clear view of the monitors. One of them was now showing a set of co-ordinates for a spot on Persephone. He saw that, and smiled.

"So, Doctor, what are you doing on Persephone?"


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

When the Doctor returned with the Tardis, Serenity's crew helped to get it into the hold, then Martha showed him where their rooms were. When they were alone, Martha shut the door. "So? Have you figured out what's going on here?"

"What do you mean?"  
"Well, this whole situation is just a bit weird, if you ask me. I mean, these people seem nice enough, but I don't even know what we're doing here."

"Uh, neither do I."

"What?"

"That girl – River, or something. She knows something, and that's why we're here."

"Knows something? Do you know her?"

"Never seen her before. She's psychic. Apparently she dreamt I was coming. She told me she had 'dreamt of storms'."

"Why storms?"

"It's nothing, really… just an old name some creatures used for me. A name she couldn't possibly know otherwise."

"Right. So what do we do?"  
"Anything you like."

"Uh, okay… maybe I'll go and talk to Kaylee."

"Who?"

"Oh, yeah, you don't know. She's the mechanic, she showed me around while you were getting the Tardis, introduced me to everyone. Why don't you come too, and meet everyone?"

"Great."

Martha led the way back to the engine room. "Kaylee?"

"Oh, hi! You okay, Martha?"

"Yeah. It's just, the Doctor's back, I was going to show him around."

"Shiny."

"Doctor, this is Kaylee." The Doctor stepped into the engine room.

"You're the mechanic, yes?"

"_Shi_."  
"Mind if I have a look?"

"Not at all. Go ahead." Kaylee stepped back to let the Doctor look at Serenity's engine.

"Wow… you've got a good machine here… the way you've wired up some if the parts, that's different…"

"Yeah… I came up with some better ways. We don't always get the chance to use brand-new parts out here."

"You've done an amazing job, I can see that."

"Thanks. It weren't nothing, really."

"Is she being modest again?" The Doctor looked up to see Mal standing in the doorway. "She pretends it's nothing, but trust me, Doctor, there's no-one better with machines than our Kaylee. Oh, and we'll be taking off soon, just so you know. It might get bumpy."

"Uh… thanks, Captain."

"Hey, Martha, why don't we go back to the kitchen? Your friend can get some food there."

Kaylee led the way out of the engine room – though the Doctor kept stopping to admire the ship. After the first few times, Kaylee whispered to Martha.

"Your friend seems real interested in ships."

"Yeah. He likes technology. A lot."

"Shiny. Y'know, I think you two are gonna fit in just fine here."

At that moment, the ship shook violently, and everyone reached for somewhere to hold on. The Doctor was just a second too late, and collided with someone else, ending up on the floor. As he picked himself up, he looked at the person he'd bumped in to.

"Uh… hello."

"Hey, 'Nara. This is the Doctor. One of the new passengers."

Inara looked at the gangly stranger. "Hello. I'm Inara. Welcome aboard."

"Uh… sorry for bumping into you like that. I should really be used to it, the same thing happens on my ship…"  
"Don't worry about it. It could have happened to anyone. Were you headed for the kitchen?"

"Er… yes."  
"I'll join you then."

As they started moving again, Martha went to have a quiet word with the Doctor.

"Doctor. Get your eyes back in your head, okay?"

"What?"

"I saw how you reacted to Inara. Stop it, you'll only embarrass yourself."

"It's not my fault if she's beautiful."

"Doctor…"

"Fine. I'll try."

"That'll have to do."

"Anyway, how do you know everyone already?"  
"While you were off getting the Tardis, I was here talking to them. I know that the pilot – the guy who went with you – is Wash, and he's married to Zoe, the first mate. I also know that there's a guy called Jayne around somewhere, there used to be someone called Shepherd Book on board, and they have a doctor called Simon who's the brother of that girl we met before. Sometimes it helps to talk to people, you know? Anyway, I like Kaylee."

"Uh… OK."


	6. Chapter Five

**A/N: Four chapters up in one day… well, I took long enough. Anyway… this chapter is lots of River and the Doctor, and something that suggests the identity of the mysterious Captain.**

**Don't forget to review!**

**Chapter Five**

The Captain set the _Amerauder_'s navigation computer to find _Serenity_'s course and lock onto it. Then he sat back and reached into his pocket.

What he pulled out was a key – which looked fairly ordinary, except for the fact that it was glowing. He looked at it for a moment, then put it away again, and sighed.

Meanwhile, unknown to the Doctor (or anyone else), inside the Tardis a small orange light began to flash on and off.

River was in her room, ostensibly reading, but her book lay forgotten on the bed next to her. She was trying to figure out what was going on – what they and the Doctor were supposed to do.

She drifted into sleep, and fell into an odd dream. In her dream, there was a ship – not a Firefly like _Serenity_, but a different model. There was a girl on the ship, who carried a great hurt inside her, and a man. When River tried to look at the man, she only became more confused. He gave her the impression of someone who should have died – but she found that he should have died many times over, and yet he lived. She tried to find a name for him, but found only two words: The Captain.

She woke with a start, knowing that she had to talk to the Doctor, and went looking for him. She found him in the cargo bay, fiddling with something inside the odd blue box that he had brought on board.

She tapped softly on the door of the blue box. "Excuse me?"

He looked up. "Oh… uh, River… are you all right?"

"Needed to talk to you. Thought you might be here." She looked around the inside of the box, eyes wide. "What is this?"

"This is my ship. Come in properly and look around."

She hesitated for a moment, but stepped further into the ship. "How does it work?"

"Uh, I don't think you'd understand. It's very complicated, and it even confuses me sometimes."  
"Oh. Does she have a name?"  
"Wha… you mean the ship? Um, sort of. I call her the Tardis."

"The Tardis…" River tried the unfamiliar word. "Your ship's very interesting, Doctor. I've never seen technology like this before."

"No, no you wouldn't have. Didn't you need to talk to me about something?"

"Yes. I need to ask you about something."

"Right. OK. Go ahead."

"There's something I can't quantify. Some_one_. I think it's someone you know, but I'm not sure."

"The person we're meant to stop?"

"No. Someone else. A friend, I think."  
"So…"  
"It's a man, I know that. I think he calls himself "captain". He should be dead many times over, but he lives. Do you know who he is?"

The Doctor groaned softly, and nodded. "Oh, yes. I know him."

"Is he a friend?"  
"Uh… yeah. He is. I've not seen him for a while, though."  
"Who is he?"  
"Jack. His name is Jack. And you're right, he should be dead. But something happened to him, and since then he can't die." The Doctor looked at River. "The thing is, how on Earth do you know anything about Jack?"  
"Same way I knew about you, Doctor."  
"Dreams. Right."  
"Don't you believe that?"  
"I don't know. It's not impossible. Just unlikely."  
"Yes. Statistically unlikely to occur naturally. But they hurt me… gave me memories that aren't mine… made me like this. Didn't happen naturally. They forced me to be like this. Didn't want any of this."

"Er… right. Look,who are "they", exactly? What did they do to you?"  
"The Alliance."  
"The… wait, the _government_ did something to you?"

"Yes. There was a school… I wanted to go. Wanted to learn. But when I got there, they did things to us. Cut us open and changed things inside. Cut into our brains."  
"Why?"  
"Don't know. I think they wanted readers."

"Psychics?"  
She nodded, smiling. "Yes. To use as weapons. They made us dangerous. Made me dangerous."

"Oh." He started to say something else.

"You want to know how come I'm here, right?"  
"Er… yes."  
"Simon."  
"Your brother?"  
"He got me out. Gave up everything for me. He's a doctor, like you. Could have had a brilliant future, but he gave it all up for me."

"He must love you very much."

"He does."

The Doctor was feeling rather uncomfortable. There was something odd about this girl – probably connected to what she had just told him, to what had been done to her. River was wandering around the control room – not touching anything, just looking at things with a thoughtful expression.

"Doctor?"

He looked up. "Yes?"

"Who's Rose?"

"What?"

"Who is she?"  
"How do you know that name? And don't tell me "dreams" again."  
"OK. Didn't dream it. The ship told me. This ship's alive, isn't she?"

"Yes, I suppose so. But _she_ had no business telling you about Rose."

"You love her, don't you? Rose, I mean."  
"Wha- uh, River, didn't anyone ever tell you not to read people's minds without permission?"

"Yes. Sorry. Sometimes I can't help myself."

"Well, try to control yourself in future."

She whispered "Sorry", then left.

As River left, the Doctor went back to work. After a few minutes, he found something – a small unit with an orange light that was flashing on and off. He frowned, and checked the function of the unit – it turned out to be a device that kept track of any keys to the TARDIS that weren't on the ship.

As the device was flashing, that meant that someone in possession of a TARDIS key was nearby and getting closer, and the Doctor knew what that meant. He had given out only three keys recently – one to Rose, one to Jack and one to Martha. He knew it couldn't be Martha's key – that was in her room on board the TARDIS, and Rose had hers with her when she was trapped in a parallel universe.

Now, all the Doctor needed to know was why Jack was on his way.


End file.
